Watermelon slicer

ABSTRACT

A slicer device and a method of using a slicer device for slicing and removing a fleshy part of a watermelon surrounded by a rind. The device includes an elongated handle and a scraper head with a scraping portion having at least one scraping edge configured to follow the contour of the watermelon while scraping the fleshy interior of the watermelon.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/611,059 filed on Jun.1, 2017 entitled “Watermelon Slicer”, which claims the benefit of and isa continuation of application Ser. No. 13/795,915 filed on Mar. 12, 2013entitled “Watermelon Slicer”, which claims the benefit of and is acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/659,162, filed Oct. 24,2012, and is entitled “Watermelon Slicer”. The aforementionedapplications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention pertains to the field of food slicers. More particularly,the invention pertains to a watermelon slicer.

Description of Related Art

Slicers of vegetables and fruit have been used in the past to ease theremoval of the edible portion of the vegetable or fruit for consumptionby a user. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,545, entitled, “PineappleCutter” by Hirano discloses a pineapple cutter with a cylindrical bodyhaving a cutting edge at the surface end of the lower portion, a pair of15 handles connected to the outer surface of the cylindrical body, apressing sheet mounted on the inner portion of the cylindrical bodyslidable in the vertical direction and a pushing member secured to theupper portion of the cylindrical body connected with the pressing sheet.A second pressing sheet with a smaller diameter than the pressing sheetis located within the pressing sheet to core the pineapple. When used tocut the pineapple, the rind is removed at the same time the core of thepineapple is removed. The exposed cutting edges of U.S. Pat. No.4,546,545 cause user safety risk. U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,545 could even beseen as an ejector assembly to deal with the obvious difficulty ofremoving pineapple from the cutter device of Hirano's U.S. Pat. No.4,490,912. U.S. Pat. No. 1,744,422, entitled “Fruit and VegetableCutter” by Taylor discloses a handle with detachable cutting head. Thedetachable cutting head is attached to the handle and a funnel typecylindrical portion with through threads. This cutter dices the entirevegetable or fruit including the outside skin. This cutter could not beused for a watermelon for example, because to push the cutter inside ofthe watermelon flesh, the screw thread connection would be too thick andadditionally the holder around the funnel portion of the cutter wouldalso not be able to be pushed through the watermelon flesh. Furthermore,the cutter can only accommodate items which fit entirely within thecutting circle.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,912, entitled “Pineapple Cutter” by Hirano disclosesa pineapple cutter with handles attached to a cylinder which has acutter portion. The cylinder of the pineapple cutter is adapted to punchthe outer peel and the interior of the pineapple to separate the peelfrom the interior of the pineapple. The pineapple cutter cuts into theouter peel of the pineapple in order to separate it from the interior ofthe pineapple. Furthermore, based on the design and the need to “punch”the pineapple cutter through the pineapple in order to slice it, softerflesh, such as the interior of a watermelon would be significantlydamaged in the process of removing the flesh from the cutter assembly asdescribed in this patent.

Therefore, there is a need for a watermelon slicer that can remove thefleshy interior or meat of the watermelon without cutting into the rind.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A slicer device and a method of using a slicer device for slicing andremoving a fleshy part of a watermelon surrounded by a rind. The deviceincludes a cutter piece, a plurality of cutters and at least one supportbar attached to an outer surface of the cutter piece. The cutter piecehas an outer surface and an inner surface defining an interior forreceiving the fleshy part of the watermelon. The plurality of cuttersare within the interior of the cutter piece arranged to form a patternwith a plurality of openings, with each of the openings being definedbetween cutters or between at least one cutter and the inner surface 25of the cutter piece, such that the fleshy part of the watermelon withinthe rind is cut into multiple pieces with geometric shapes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows a slicer device with cutters arranged in parallel.

FIG. 2 shows using the slicer device with the cutters arranged inparallel to remove a fleshy part of watermelon by aligning the slicerwith the fleshy part of the watermelon.

FIG. 3 shows pushing the slicer device with the cutters arranged inparallel into the fleshy part of the watermelon.

FIG. 4a shows a rotation plate against the slicer device with thecutters arranged in parallel with the new cuts made in the fleshy partof the watermelon.

FIG. 4b shows the rotation plate flush against the watermelon with theindexer paddle within the watermelon while the slicer device is rotated.

FIG. 5 shows pulling the slicer device with the cutters arranged inparallel being pulled out of the fleshy part of the watermelon and usingthe rotation plate as a holding device.

FIG. 6 shows the slicer device with cutters arranged in parallel afterthe fleshy part of the watermelon has been cut.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a slicer device with cutters arranged in agrid.

FIG. 8 shows a close-up of the cutters in a grid.

FIG. 9 shows a front view of a handle coupled to a slicer device.

FIG. 10 shows a side view of a handle coupled to a slicer device.

FIGS. 11A-11D show a sequence of using a slicer with cutters arranged ina grid. FIG. 11A Shows using the slicer device with the cutters arrangedin a grid to remove a fleshy part of watermelon. FIG. 11B shows pushingthe slicer into the fleshy part of the watermelon. FIG. 11C showsrotating the slicer within the fleshy part of the watermelon. FIG. 11Dshows removing the fleshy part of the watermelon with removal of theslicer device.

FIG. 12 shows a slicer device with a wire tensioning mechanism of aslot.

FIG. 13 shows a close-up of the slot wire tensioning mechanism.

FIG. 14 shows a slicer device with a wire tensioning mechanism of ascrew tightener.

FIG. 15 shows a close-up of the screw tightener wire tensioningmechanism.

FIG. 16 shows a close-up of a wing nut wire tensioning mechanism.

FIG. 17 shows a schematic of a rotation plate and indexer paddle.

FIGS. 18A-18L shows a sequence of using a slicer with cutters arrangedin parallel with a rotation plate including an indexer. FIG. 18A showsaligning the slicer above the fleshy part of the watermelon. FIG. 18Bshows pushing the slicer into the fleshy part of the watermelon. FIG.18C shows aligning the indexer paddle with the middle slot of the fleshypart of the watermelon created in FIG. 18B. FIG. 18D shows pushingindexer paddle within the fleshy part of the watermelon until therotation plate is touching the watermelon. FIG. 18E shows rotating theslicer, for example a quarter turn, while holding the rotation platestationary. FIG. 18F shows lifting the indexer paddle up one level, andthen lifting the slicer up one level, while holding the rotation platestationary. FIG. 18G shows rotating the slicer back a half turn, whileholding the rotation plate stationary. FIG. 18H shows lifting theIndexer paddle relative to the rotation plate so that the slicer canthen be lifted to a second level below the rotation plate. FIG. 181shows rotating the slicer at the second level, while holding therotation plate stationary. FIG. 18J shows lifting the indexer paddlerelative to the rotation plate, so that the slicer can be lifted to athird level below the rotation plate. FIG. 18K shows rotating at a thirdlevel, while holding the rotation plate stationary at the third level.FIG. 181 shows removing the slicer and the rotation plate with anindexer paddle from the cubed fleshy part of the watermelon.

FIGS. 19A-19B show a slicer wrench accessory. FIG. 19A shows a schematicof a slicer wrench. FIG. 19B shows using the slicer wrench with awatermelon and slicer.

FIGS. 20A-20B show a slicer strap accessory. FIG. 20A shows a schematicof a slicer strap. FIG. 20B shows using the slicer strap to mobilize awatermelon.

FIGS. 21A-21B show melon holder accessory. FIG. 21A shows a schematic ofa melon holder. FIG. 21B shows using the melon holder to mobilize awatermelon.

FIGS. 22a and 22b shows a scraper in an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 23 shows a scraper being used to remove the fleshy part of thewatermelon from the rind after the slicer device has been used if thereis any remaining melon to harvest.

FIGS. 24-25 shows a scraper of an alternative embodiment.

FIG. 26 shows an alternative embodiment of the scraper of FIGS. 22a and22 b.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-11D and 18A-18L show a slicer device of a first embodiment. Theslicer device 10 has a cutter piece 16 with an outer surface 18 and aninner surface 20. The cutter piece has a height H. Attached to the innersurface 20 of the cutter piece 16 is at least one cutter. The cutter maybe at least one wire 22 with a cutting edge 17 of itself or at least onecutter blade with a cutting edge as in U.S. application Ser. No.13/659,162, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The at least onecutter blade has a height h that is equal to the height Hof the cutterpiece.

As shown in FIG. 1, the at least one wire 22 is arranged within theinner surface 20 of the cutter piece 16 to define openings 24 betweenthe wires 22. The pattern of openings 24 and the at least one wire 22 isnot limited to the patterns shown. The at least one wire 22 may bethreaded through holes 21 or slots in the cutter piece 16 and may bearranged in parallel as shown in FIGS. 1-6 and 18A-18L or in a grid asshown in FIGS. 7-8 and 11. The ends of the at least one wire may besecured to the cutter piece 16 or the support bar 14 and/or tensionedthrough a tensioning and attachment mechanism 33 discussed below. Itshould be noted that the shape of the openings 24 defines the shape intowhich the watermelon meat or fleshy part 7 will be sliced into.

A support bar 14 is attached to an outer surface 18 of the cutter piece16. The support bar 14 is preferably curved within an inner surface 15and an outer surface 13. The curve of the inner and outer surface 15, 13follow the curve the outer surface 18 of the cutter piece 16. Thesupport bar 14 may also serve as a handle for a user and a scoop afterthe fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 has been removed for example asshown in FIG. 11D.

A handle 19 may be coupled to the outer surface 13 of the support bar 14of the slicer device 10. The handle 19 may be coupled to the support bar14 through welding or through fasteners, such as screw or rivets. Whilethe handle 19 is shown as being parallel to the support bar 14, thehandle 19 may be placed in any position relative to the support bar 14.

FIG. 17 shows a device 40 that may be used with the slicer device 10.The device 40 includes an indexer plate 42 with a first side 41 and asecond side 43, with the second side 43 opposite the first side 41. Thefirst and second sides 41, 43 each have two channels 46 on either sideof a set of spaced apart holes 44 along at least a portion of the lengthof the indexer paddle 42. The two channels 46 and the spaced apart holes44 between the two channels 46 extend from the first side 41 to thesecond side 43. Attached to the first and second sides 41, 43 of theindexer paddle 42 are identical L-shaped brackets 48, indicated byreference numbers 48 a and 48 b and form the rotation plate 60 of thedevice 40. Each L-shaped bracket 48 a, 48 b has a semi-circular portion49 a, 49 b connected to a wall portion 52 a, 52 b at a right angle. Thesemi-circular portion 49 a, 49 b has a top surface 51 a, 51 b and abottom surface 50 a, 50 b which would contact the fleshy part of thewatermelon 2. The wall portion 52 a, 52 b has an outer surface 53 a, 53b and an inner surface 54 a, 54 b. The inner surface 54 a, 54 b contactsthe first and second sides 41, 43 of the indexer paddle 42. The wallportion 52 a, 52 b also has holes 59 for receiving fasteners 55 and aspring biased pin 56. The L-shaped brackets 48 a, 48 b are attached tothe indexer paddle 42 through fasteners 55 received by the wall portions52 a, 52 b of both L-shaped brackets that pass through the channels 46of the indexer paddle 42. In other words, fasteners 55 pass through theholes 59 in the wall portion 52 a of a first bracket 48 a, through thechannel 46 of the indexer paddle 42 and are received by the holes 59 ofthe wall portion 52 b of the second bracket 48 b. The fasteners 55 maybe held in place by nuts 58. Also received within one of the wallportions 52 a, 52 b is a spring biased pin 56. The spring biased pin 56engages the central set of spaced apart holes 44. The spring biased pin56 ratchets with the holes 44 to allow the L-shaped brackets 48 a, 48 bwhich form the rotation plate 60 to be moved up and down relative to theindexer paddle 42 or conversely the indexer paddle 42 moved up and downrelative to the L-shaped brackets 48 a, 48 b.

FIGS. 2-6 show steps of using the slicer device 10 with wires or cutters22 arranged in parallel to remove the fleshy interior part or meat 7 ofthe watermelon 2 from the rind or outer portion 8 of the watermelon. Ina first step, the user removes a top crown portion from the watermelon2. As shown in FIG. 2, the crown of the watermelon has already beenremoved. The user then aligns the cutter piece 16 of the slicer device10 with the fleshy part or meat 7 of the watermelon 2 as shown in FIG.2. The user then pushes the slicer device 10 down into the fleshy partor meat 7 of the watermelon 2 using the support bar 14 or additionalhandle 19 as shown in FIG. 3 until the cutter piece 16 reaches a bottomor end of the fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 and the user can feelresistance against the firmer internal part of the watermelon rind 8.

In FIG. 4A, the user prepares to insert the indexer paddle 42 of thedevice 40 in the middle slot made in the meat 7 of the watermelon 2 bythe slicer device 10.

In FIG. 4B, the indexer paddle 42 is in place to prevent the corerotation of the fleshy part or meat 7 of the watermelon 2 when theslicer 10 is rotated. The user then rotates the slicer device 10approximately 90 degrees to separate the fleshy part or meat 7 of thewatermelon 2 from the rind 8. The user then retracts the indexer paddle42, but continues to hold the rotation plate 60 against the surface ofthe fleshy part or meat 7 of the watermelon 2. The slicer device 10 isthen pulled outwards from the fleshy part or meat 7 of the watermelon 2while the rotation plate 60 is held against the fleshy part or meat 7until the slicer grid 22 makes contact with the bottom of the rotationplate 60 as shown in FIG. 5. The slicer device 10 with the device 40including the rotation plate 60 and indexer paddle 42 is now removedcompletely from the watermelon 2, while the meat 7 of the watermelon 2remains within the watermelon 2 as shown in FIG. 6.

FIGS. 18A-18L show another method of using the device 40 with a slicerdevice 10 with wires or cutters 22 arranged in parallel of FIGS. 1-6 toremove the fleshy interior part or meat 7 of the watermelon 2 from therind or outer portion 8 of the watermelon 2 and cutting the meat 7 intocubes, rather than logs as in FIGS. 11A-11D.

In a first step, the user removes a top crown of the watermelon. Theuser then aligns the cutter piece 16 of the slicer device 10 with thefleshy part or meat 7 of the watermelon 2 as shown in FIG. 18A. The userthen pushes the slicer device 10 down into the watermelon 2 using thesupport bar 14 or handle 19 as shown in FIG. 18B until the cutter piece16 reaches a bottom or end of the fleshy part of the watermelon or theuser can feel resistance against the firmer internal part of thewatermelon rind 8. This action is a straight linear action. The userthen aligns the device 40 above the fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 asshown in FIG. 18C. It should be noted that the indexer paddle 42 needsto be placed such that it will not interfere with the wire cutters 22 ofthe slicer device 10. The device 40 is preferably placed within thefleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 in a position in which the springbiased pin 56 is engaged with one of the central holes 44 close to oneend of the indexer paddle 42, for example as shown in FIG. 17. The userthen inserts or pushes the indexer paddle 42 into the fleshy part 7 ofthe watermelon 2 as shown in FIG. 18D such that the bottom surface 50 a,50 b of the rotation plate 60 engages the fleshy part 7 of thewatermelon 2.

Once the indexer paddle 42 of the device 40 and the slicer device 10have been inserted into the fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2, the userrotates the slicer device 10 in a clockwise or counterclockwisedirection between 90 degrees, while holding the rotation platestationary 60 as shown in FIG. 18E. Next, the slicer device 10 and theindexer paddle 42 are slightly lifted a specific distance to a firstlevel from the bottom of the watermelon 2 outwards from the watermelon2. This distance may be equivalent to the spring biased pin 56 engaginganother hole or two holes 44 on the indexer paddle 42. It should benoted that the rotation plate 60 is not moved during movement of theindexer plate 42 as shown in FIG. 18F. The user then rotates the slicerdevice 10 in a direction opposite of FIG. 18E (either counterclockwiseor clockwise) approximately 180 degrees or in the same direction of FIG.18E, while holding the rotation plate 60 stationary as shown in FIG.18G.

The user can continue to lift the slicer device 10 and the indexerpaddle 42 slightly by ratcheting the indexer paddle 42 outwards from thewatermelon through the engagement and disengagement of the spring biasedpin 56 as shown in FIG. 18H to another level and rotating the slicerdevice 10 in a first direction as shown in FIGS. 181 and 18E, raise theslicer device 10 and the indexer paddle 42 slightly by ratcheting theindexer paddle 42 outwards from the watermelon 2, while keeping therotation plate 60 stationary as shown in FIGS. 18F, 18H, and 18J androtate the slicer device 10 in a direction either the same as shown inFIGS. 18G and K or an opposite direction as shown in FIGS. 18G and 18K.Finally, the slicer device 10 and the device 40 are removed from thewatermelon 2 completely, leaving the fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2sliced horizontally and vertically within the rind 8. The spacing of thehorizontal slices is equivalent in length to the distance the indexer 42travels before the slicer device 10 is rotated and the size of theopenings 24 made by the cutters 22 of the slicer device 10. Thewatermelon 2 may be served this way within the rind 8 as shown in FIG.18L or the fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 removed by turning thewatermelon 2 upside down or scooping out the contents.

FIGS. 11A-11D show alternate steps of using the slicer device 10 withthe cutters or wires 22 arranged in a grid to remove the fleshy interiorpart or meat 7 of the watermelon 2 from the rind or outer portion 8 ofthe watermelon 2. In a first step, the user removes a top crown portionfrom the watermelon 2. The user then aligns the cutter piece 16 of theslicer device 10 with the fleshy part or meat 7 of the watermelon 2 asshown in FIG. 11A. The user then pushes the slicer device 10 down intothe watermelon 2 using the support bar 14 or additional handle 19 asshown in FIG. 11B until the cutter piece 16 reaches a bottom or end ofthe fleshy part of the watermelon 2 and the user can feel resistanceagainst the firmer internal part of the watermelon rind 8. This actionis a straight linear action. The user then rotates the slicer device 10between approximately 90 degrees to 180 degrees to separate the fleshypart or meat 7 of the watermelon 2 from the rind 8 as shown in FIG. 11C.The slicer device 10 is then pulled outwards from the watermelon 2 withthe fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 as shown in FIG. 110 cut intologs. The inner surface 15 of the support bar 14 is curved and may beused to transfer the removed fleshy part of the meat 7 of the watermelonto another bowl, tray etc.

FIGS. 12-16 show an alternate slicer device 100 with at least one end ofat least one wire cutter engaged with a wire tensioning and attachmentmechanism. The slicer device 100 has a cutter piece 16 with an outersurface 18 and an inner surface 20. The cutter piece 16 has a height H.Attached to the inner surface 20 of the cutter piece 16 is at least onecutter, for example at least one wire 22 with a cutting edge 17.

As shown in FIG. 12, the at least one wire 22 is arranged within theinner surface 20 of the cutter piece 16 to define openings 24 betweenthe wires 22. The pattern of openings 24 and the at least one wire 22 isnot limited to the patterns shown. The at least one wire 22 may bethreaded through holes 21 or slots in the cutter piece 16 and may bearranged in parallel as shown in FIGS. 1-6 or in a grid as shown inFIGS. 8 and 12. It should be noted that the shape of the openings 24defines the shape into which the watermelon meat or flesh 7 will besliced. The at least one wire 22 may also be arranged into geometricshape symbols, or decorative shapes (e.g. animals, logos, or figures).

At least one support bar 30 is attached to an outer surface 18 of thecutter piece 16. At least one cross handle 12 may attach to the supportbars 30 to provide an increased surface area in which to push the slicerdevice 100 through the meat 7 of the watermelon 2 and ease the overalluse of the slicer device 100.

The at least one wire 22 of the slicer device 100 is threaded throughthe slots or holes 21 or slots within the cutter piece 16 with at leastone of the ends of the wire 22 engaged with a wire tensioning andattachment mechanism 33. While the wire tensioning and attachmentmechanism 33 is shown with the slicer device 100, the wire tensioningand attachment mechanism 33 may be used with the slicer device 10 ofFIGS. 1-11D. The wire tensioning and attachment mechanism 33 may beattached to inner or outer surfaces 13, 15 of the support bar 14.

In one embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the wire tensioning and attachmentmechanism 33 is a tab 32 defining a slot 31 on a surface of the at leastone support bar 30. A first end 22 a of the wire 22 is threaded throughthe slots or holes 21 of the cutter piece 16 and is pulled tight, so noslack is present, and the first end 22 a of the wire 22 is receivedwithin the slot 31 formed by the tab 32 on the support bar 30 andwrapped around the tab 32 and secured to itself as shown in FIG. 13. Thesecond end 22 b (not shown) of the wire 22 may be anchored to the cutterpiece 16 or received within another slot 31 and wrapped around a tab 32on the other support bar 30. The wire 22 may be replaced by removing thewire 22 from the slot and wrapped around the tab 32 and rewrapping thewire around the tab or retightened by rewrapping the wire 22 if it wereto gain slack.

Alternatively, the wire tensioning and attachment mechanism 33 is athreaded screw 35 and a coupling nut 34 as shown in FIGS. 14-15. Thethreaded screw 35 is received within a handle 12 of the slicer device100 adjacent a support bar 30. The first end 22 a of the wire 22 isthreaded through the slots or holes 21 of the cutter piece 16 and ispulled tight, so no slack is present, and the first end 22 a of the wire22 is received in a first end 34 a of a coupling nut 34 and a threadedscrew 35 is received within the second end 34 b of the coupling nut 34.The tightening of the screw 35 holds the wire 22 in place and maintainsthe tautness of the wire 22. The wire 22 may be replaced by looseningthe threaded screw 35 and removing it from the coupling nut 34. The wire22 may be further tightened during as necessary by further tighteningthe screw 35 to remove any slack from the wire 22. The second end 22 b(not shown) of the wire 22 may be anchored to the cutter piece 16 orreceived within another coupling nut 34 and threaded screw 35 on theother support bar 30.

In another alternate embodiment, the wire tensioning and attachmentmechanism 33 is a threaded shaft 38, a nut or washer 37, and a wingnut36 as shown in FIG. 16. The threaded shaft 38 is received within a hole30 a of the support bar 30 of the slicer device 100. The first end 22 aof the wire 22 is threaded through the slots or holes 21 of the cutterpiece 16 and is pulled tight, so no slack is present, and the first end22 a of the wire 22 is received wrapped around the threaded shaft 38. Awingnut 36 is then received by the threaded shaft 38 and is screwed downto compress and stabilize the wire 22 around the threaded shaft 38. Anut or washer 37 may be placed between the wingnut 36 and the supportbar 30. The tightening of the wingnut 36 holds the wire in place andmaintains the tautness of the wire 22. The wire 22 may be replaced byloosening the wingnut 36 and/or removing the wingnut 36 from thethreaded shaft 38. The wire 22 may be further tightened as necessary byfurther tightening the wingnut 36 to remove any slack from the wire 22.The second end 22 b (not shown) of the wire 22 may be anchored to thecutter piece 16 or wrapped around another threaded shaft 38 and securedby the wingnut 36 on the other support bar 30.

FIGS. 19A and 19B show a slicer wrench 61 that may be used with theslicer device 10 of the present invention. The slicer wrench 61 has abody with a first side 64 and a second side 65 with a firstsemi-circular cutout 62 that extends from the first side 64 to thesecond side 65 and a second semi-circular cutout 63 that extends fromthe first side 64 to the second side 65. The second semi-circular cutout63 is positioned 90 degrees from the position of the first semi-circularcutout 62. The slicer wrench also has a handle portion 66, which iscontoured to conform with the inner surface curve of the support bar 14of the slice device 10. The first or second semi-circular cutouts 62, 63may receive the support bar 14 of the slicer device 10 when the slicerdevice is in the fleshy part 7 of the 12 watermelon as shown in FIG. 19Band may be used to aid the user in rotating the slicer device 10 withinthe watermelon 2.

FIGS. 20A and 20B show a slicer strap 70 that may be used with theslicer devices 10, 100 of the present invention. The slicer strap 70includes a first strap 71 and a second strap 73 attached to an anchor72. The slicer strap would be placed around an outer circumference ofthe watermelon 2 and the first and second strap 71, 73 secured to eachother through a fastener, for example hook and loop fastener, buckle,etc. . . . . The slicer strap 70 can then be used to secure thewatermelon 2 in place, so it will not roll or slip for a user to use theslicer devices 10, 100 of the present invention.

FIGS. 21A and 21B shows a melon holder for use with the slicer devices10, 100 of the present invention. The melon holder 80 has four plates 81a, 81 b, 81 c, 81 d that are fastened to each other at right angles.Each of the four plates 81 a, 81 b, 81 c, 81 d has a curved portion 82a, 82 b, 82 c, 82 d with pegs 83 extending outward therefrom. Awatermelon 2 can be placed on the pegs 83 of the curved portions of thefour plates 81 a, 81 b, 81 c, 81 d to secure the watermelon 2 into placeand prevent it from rolling when being used with a slicer device 10,100. The pegs 83 may have a sharpened end and may be made of metal orplastic. When the watermelon 2 is placed on the pegs 83, the pegs 83 maypuncture the outer rind 8 of the watermelon 2.

FIGS. 22a, 22b and 23 show a scraper 200 of a first embodiment that maybe used after the slicer device 10 has been pushed through the fleshypart 7 of the watermelon 2 and the pieces removed from the slicer device10, for example from the watermelon 2 shown in FIG. 11d . The scraper200 has a handle 202 which is integrally formed with a bent scrapingportion 204. The bent scraping portion 204 has a bottom surface 208, atop surface 214 with an edge 206, and opposing wall surfaces 210, 212.In an alternate embodiment, the handle 202 may be bent 216 at an anglerelative to the bent scraping portion 204 to permit the user to moreeasily follow the contour of the watermelon 2 while scraping the fleshyinterior 7 of the watermelon 2 as shown in FIG. 26.

To remove the remaining fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 after theslicer device 10 has been used, a user aligns an edge 206 of the bentscraping portion 204 with the fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 andpulls the scraper 200, such that the edge 206 cuts through the fleshypart 7 of the watermelon 2 from the rind 8 as shown in FIG. 23. Thefleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 that is cut or scraped off, slidesacross the top surface 214 of the bent scraping portion 204 and is cutinto shaped pieces based on the placement of the opposing wall surfaces210, 212 relative to the top surface 204 of the bent scraping portion204.

FIGS. 24-25 show a scraper 300 of an alternative embodiment. The scraper300 may be used after the slicer device 10 has been pushed through thefleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 and the slicer 10 with melon pieceshas been removed from the melon, for example from the watermelon 2 shownin FIG. 11d . The scraper 300 has a handle 302 which is coupled to ascraper head 306 through a connecting portion 318. The scraper head 306has a scraping portion 308 with a top surface 314, a bottom surface 304and opposing wall surfaces 312, 316. The scraping portion 308 has anedge 310. The scraper head 306 may be attached to the handle 302 or thehandle 302 may be bent at an angle to permit the user to more easilyfollow the contour of the watermelon 2 while scraping the fleshyinterior 7 of the watermelon 2.

To remove the remaining fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 after theslicer device 10 has been used, a user aligns the edge 310 of thescraper head 306 with the fleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 and pullsthe scraper 300, such that the edge 310 cuts through the fleshy part 7of the watermelon 2 from the rind 8 in a manner similar to FIG. 23. Thefleshy part 7 of the watermelon 2 that is cut or scraped off, slidesacross the top surface 314 of the scraper head 306 and is cut intoshaped pieces based on the placement of the opposing wall surfaces 312,316 and the connecting portion 318 relative to the top surface 314 ofthe scraper head 306. The bend in the handle 302 allows the user to moveeasily follow the contour of the rind 8 to remove what fleshy interior 7of the melon 2 is desired.

Accordingly, it is to be understood that the embodiments of theinvention herein described are merely illustrative of the application ofthe principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of theillustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of theclaims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential tothe invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fruit scraping device configured to cut andremove flesh of a fruit attached to the fruit's rind, comprising: ahandle having a first end and a second end; a scraper head comprising acurved scraping portion having a top surface, a bottom surface, and anedge; and a connecting portion that connects the curved scraping portionto the second end of the handle, wherein the connecting portion and thecurved scraping portion at least partially define a first aperture. 2.The fruit scraping device of claim 1, wherein the scraper head furthercomprises a first wall surface and a second wall surface, wherein thefirst wall surface and second wall surface are connected to opposingends of the curved scraping portion.
 3. The fruit scraping device ofclaim 1, wherein the first aperture has an aperture axis that isnon-perpendicular to a handle axis.
 4. The fruit scraping device ofclaim 1, wherein the connecting portion comprises a first leg and asecond leg.
 5. The fruit scraping device of claim 4, wherein the firstaperture is defined by the first leg, the second leg, the curvedscraping portion, and the second end of the handle.
 6. The fruitscraping device of claim 5, further comprising a second aperture atleast partially defined by the first leg and the curved scrapingportion.
 7. The fruit scraping device of claim 6, further comprising athird aperture at least partially defined by the second leg and thecurved scraping portion.
 8. The fruit scraping device of claim 1,wherein a portion of the handle is bent at an angle.
 9. The fruitscraping device of claim 1, wherein the curved scraping portion has acurve defined by a radius which allows a user to align the edge of thecurved scraping portion with the flesh of the fruit remaining attachedto the fruit's rind after a fruit cutting device cuts and removes aninner cylinder of the flesh of the fruit.
 10. A system for cutting andremoving flesh of a fruit from within the fruit's rind, comprising: afruit cutting device configured to cut and remove flesh of the fruitfrom within the fruit's rind; and a fruit scraping device configured tocut and remove flesh of the fruit attached to the fruit's rind,comprising: a handle having a first end and a second end; a scraper headcomprising a curved scraping portion having a top surface, a bottomsurface, and an edge; and a connecting portion that connects the curvedscraping portion to the second end of the handle, wherein the connectingportion and the curved scraping portion at least partially define afirst aperture.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the fruit cuttingdevice cuts and removes an inner cylinder of the flesh of the fruit. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein the curved scraping portion has a curvedefined by a radius which allows a user to align the edge of the curvedscraping portion with the fleshy part of the fruit remaining attached tothe fruit's rind after the fruit cutting device cuts and removes theinner cylinder of the fleshy part of the fruit.
 13. The system of claim10, wherein the scraper head further comprises a first wall surface anda second wall surface, wherein the first wall surface and second wallsurface are connected to opposing ends of the curved scraping portion.14. The system of claim 10, wherein the connecting portion comprises afirst leg and a second leg.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein thefruit scraping device further comprises a second aperture at leastpartially defined by the first leg and the curved scraping portion. 16.The system of claim 10, wherein a portion of the handle is bent at anangle.
 17. A fruit scraping device configured to cut and remove flesh ofa fruit attached to the fruit's rind, comprising: a handle having afirst end and a second end; a scraper head comprising a curved scrapingportion having a top surface, a bottom surface, and an edge; and atleast one leg coupled to the second end of the handle and to the topsurface of the curved scraping portion to connect the scraper head tothe handle.
 18. The fruit scraping device of claim 17, furthercomprising a first aperture at least partially defined by the at leastone leg and a first portion of the curved scraping portion.
 19. Thefruit scraping device of claim 18, further comprising a second apertureat least partially defined by the at least one leg and a second portionof the curved scraping portion.
 20. The fruit scraping device of claim19, wherein the scraper head further comprises a first wall surface anda second wall surface, wherein: the first wall surface and second wallsurface are connected to opposing ends of the curved scraping portion;and the first aperture is further defined by the first wall surface andthe second aperture is further defined by the second wall surface.